The Turquoise Tortoise Gallery Presents Stan Natchez' Native American Neo-Pop

Written by Oswald Harrison Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:50

Sedona, AZ.- Sedona’s Turquoise Tortoise Gallery celebrates the thought-provoking Native American artwork of Stan Natchez with the exhibition “Stan Natchez: All-American” on exhibit from June 3rd through June 12th. Natchez’s paintings are colorful histories of Native American life: ceremonies, battles and portraits, rendered in the traditional two dimensions of “ledger art.” But each mixed media painting also offers viewers the opportunity for careful study, an opportunity to become a bit more enlightened than perhaps we were at first glance.

In works such as “Victory Dance” and “Two Brothers” the figures are painted directly onto U.S. currency leading to complex interpretations correlating the hides that Native Americans used to paint on – and trade as currency – with today’s symbol of the world we live in. In “Campbell’s Soups” Natchez’s mounted warrior rides across a backdrop of an American flag made up of the soup cans of Pop Art iconography; his war bonnet’s long trailer tells us of his success as a warrior even as the advertisement’s printing lets us know that we can “just add hot water and serve” – a clear indication of how far “American” culture has shifted. “Wedding Scene” is arguably the artist’s most complex work currently on exhibit at the gallery: In this 30” x 30” painting Natchez begins with a photographic print of a 1680’s map of the Americas, its center replaced with a map of Native America circa the 1860s – both maps found in London by the artist; Natchez then paints over this a meticulously traditional Plains Indian wedding scene backed by gold leaf. The intriguing 17th century illustrations on the map’s borders depict, in symbolism of the era, core elements such as wind, fire and water, imagery that beautifully depicts elements sacred to every society of people, including, and perhaps especially, the Native Americans – even as the original map depicted a European-viewed interpretation of the “early” Americas (represented by a culture only 200 years into its exploration of vast lands known for eons by its then current and, in places, quite populous citizenry of Native Americans).


Taken as a whole, this many-layered piece seems to look, quite literally, at the central qualities of humanity through the ages.  It shows a diversity of cultures, a diversity of the points of view of those cultures (e.g. the Europeans focused outward, dismissively, toward what is seen as an inconsequential culture and the Native Americans focused toward each other, engaged in ceremony, wedding a couple who will now perpetuate their own population, time-honored traditions, and beliefs), and yet, surrounding it all are these symbols that represent the core beliefs of both cultures – a true testament that we are all related. Or, as the Lakota say it: Mitakuye Oyasin. The artist’s intent in general is to document, literally and figuratively, the homeland of Native Americans versus today’s modern world. To that end he paints traditional imagery on everything from maps to currency to yellow pages to baseball cards. Natchez has spent the last two years preparing for a major exhibition at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA, which will open in September and run into January. For that exhibition he is preparing pieces measuring up to eight feet in size.

One of the oldest and most acclaimed Sedona art galleries, Turquoise Tortoise Gallery, now in its 40th year, is located in the very heart of Sedona's famed Gallery District. Having built its considerable reputation representing the finest Native American artists and jewelers available, the gallery now includes top Contemporary Southwest artists as well, giving visitors the full southwestern experience. This commitment to excellence is seen in original Fine Art paintings, stone sculptures, bronze sculptures, pottery, war shirts, as well as an extensive selection of stone jewelry set in silver and gold. For turquoise jewelry, sugilite, coral, and more, this is the destination art gallery to reach; many of the Native American jewelers represented are the second or third generation to provide their exquisite (signed) pieces to the gallery. The gallery also carries an extensive line of southwestern rugs woven by the renowned Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico. Whether it is traditional imagery you desire in Native American Art or Southwestern Art, this is the gallery for you. And, if it is Contemporary Art that is more to your liking, the gallery offers work by some of the most renowned Contemporary Native American artists working today as well as dynamic Contemporary Southwestern paintings and sculpture. Visit the gallery's website at ... www.turquoisetortoisegallery.com

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